'Money, Meaning and Beyond: 27 Unexpected Ways To Create What Really Matters' |
Recommended Reading | Nutrition For the Mind
Straight from Andrea’s nightstand, bathtub, hammock stand, rollerbag and more….
As the saying goes, we’re supposed to become most like the 5 people we spend the most time with.
In a turn of the phrase, I think we also think most like the things we’ve last read.
What are the last 5 things of significance that you’ve read? Have you selected those items wisely and with care, or is your brain surviving on a dismal diet of metaphorical fast-food?
In this community, where we talk so much about thought, ideas and creativity, I sometimes wonder ‘who is reading all the writing we’re generating?’
It’s part of why I take SUCH a strong stance for ‘having something amazing to say.’ I mean, if YOU wouldn’t read your own newsletter, gol darn it, why would you expect a tribe of people to???!
Write something you would love to read. And so, a brief summer reading list. Because I find myself curious about what you’re reading, lately, why you chose it, and whether it was good for you, too.
Here’s a peek into my world, because though I am a happy published author and current writer of several new things…I am, after all is said and done, a reader.
Change Your Age: |
The Art of Game Design: |
The Cello Suites: |
Discovering the Obvious |
The UltraMind Solution: |
Dirty Little Secrets: |
The Joy of Not Working: |
The Mobile Marketing Handbook: |
Sham: How the Self-Help Movement Made America Helpless |
Before you ask… I’m in analog on all of these. I own both a Sony Reader and a Kindle but use those really only for business and travel. It might be age, habit, stubbornness or all three, but I haven’t crossed the chasm into regular e-reading. The multisensory hedonist in me resists it mightily. And…some of these are rereads. Second or third time around. I like what happens when old and new books are group-read in new combinations.
So what can you imagine might arise from this mix? If my mind is most like what I’m feeding it right now, in what state of health or decay might it be? And why would that matter to anything? What difference does it make to you, dear reader, that I read the above, or something else, or don’t read at all?
Feel free so suggest books, comment, speculate, conflagrate below. “I showed you mine, now you show me yours.”
Would You Like To Attend From The Comfort of Your Home? The Wealthy Thought Leader Live Event | September 30 to October 2
In acknowledgement of our international friends, we are making plans to make the 
Wealthy Thought Leader Live Event available Live-Via-Video again,streamed using Silverlight technology (akin to HD TV).
Due to the additional costs associated with producing the live-stream, please assist us by hitting reply with ‘Interested in LVV’ in the subject line, and include your geographic location in the body of the email.
Thank you! More details forthcoming.
Status of In-person seat availability: Early bird registration fee is still in place, with a 4-payment plan available until July 31 for your convenience.
Update – our really lovely downtown hotel is coming through for us with some great room rates, and…
I’m a little bit gleeful at the line-up of speakers. More to come. I know. I’m a tease.
Register now and savor the anticipation! I have it on good authority that summer will not get shorter if you commit to something in the fall today. 
http://www.wealthythoughtleader.com
A Strong Return on Investment –even coming from the other side of the globe!
“Having coached with Andrea for several years, I wasn’t going to miss her live event – even if I had to fly halfway around the world. As expected, Andrea over-delivered and not only was I was able to crystallize what the next steps were in my business, I also found people willing to partner with me! Going to the Wealthy Thought Leader was an investment in myself, one that has already generated a return many times over the cost of admission.”
Elena Verlee
PR in Your Pajama
Who’s Helping Who?” Building Your Rock Star Virtual Team | No-Fee Call with Tina Forsyth of Online Business Manager.com
The saying goes that the time it takes for a business to go from idea to 
implementation is a predictor of its success. The longer it takes, the less likely you are to succeed.
But what is it that has the most potential to shorten that time? A truly great team, that’s what. And not just a skilled one, but one that’s as passionate as you about what you’re here to do. It really is possible to find that match.
I’m so proud of what my former business partner, Tina Forsyth, has done with Online Business Manager and THRIVE the hiring system she’s forged to lead the online world out of the Dark Ages. Down with hit-and-miss, easy come, easy go, cavalier and even promiscuous team-building!
I’m interviewing Tina next week (Thursday July 22 at 3pm ET) in-depth, about this thing called hiring, online. A very timely call at no-fee, by way of introducing you to Tina and her work. Won’t you join us?
Click here to register, whether for the recording of live call in details.
Behind the Scenes with Bestselling Authors | Hosted by Book Breakthrough NYC
David Allen (Getting Things Done)…
Les McKeown (Predictable Success)…
Susan Scott (Fierce Conversations)…
Shama Hyder (Zen of Social Media)…
There are too many accolades here to count, and each of them has a unique story they’ve agreed to tell about how things transpired behind-the-scenes of their best seller(s.)
This extraordinary series of calls featuring the above authors and more, is being hosted at no-charge by Elizabeth Marshall and Janet Goldstein, the power team behind the New York City Book Breakthrough event that’s the buzz around the internet.
(Click here for details about the event, where many of these authors will be present… I would love to see you there!)
To register for the ‘Behind the Bestselling Author’ calls, go here. What an amazing summer lineup!
How I Fell In Love With a Fish | A Definite Point of View, from Chef and Scholar Dan Barber
It’s easy to think that your business is ordinary. That what you do is the same as so many people. It takes extra effort to lift one’s daily activities out of the ordinary, after all.
Here’s a mischievous and enlightening 20-minute video of chef and scholar Dan Barber taking a stand, and teaching a master class in the art of presentation, at the same time. This is no ordinary chef, folks.
Happy news!
I’ve received approval as a TEDx licensee and will be putting together TEDxYVR, an independently organized TED event. (YVR = Vancouver airport and the date is November 20.)
Hit reply with TEDxYVR if you’re interested in contributing and/or participating.
Trimming the Fat of Your Lifestyle, Not Just Your Diet | The Solution to a LOT of Unnecessary Business Angst
I loved this article from Thomas when I first read it, nearly 10 years ago. It’s every bit as relevant now as it was then, and though it’s
longer than most of Thomas’ works, well worth it to slow down and absorb.
I can personally attest to Thomas living at least half of these points. It was interesting, to say the least, to watch how his personal expenses grew, and didn’t grow, as the business leapt and flew, from six figures to seven and onward.
I’ll be curious to hear what you think.
1. Understand that there is difference between living life and having a lifestyle.
There’s an ad for a financial services firm that goes like this: “Are you working for a living or are you working for a life?” I’ll change it a bit to read: “Are you working for a lifestyle or are you living your life?” Life and lifestyle are both synonymous and mutually exclusive, depending on how you look at this. The key question to ask yourself is “How much of my life is being consumed by my lifestyle?”
2. Start learning about different ways of living.
I am shocked sometimes by how few options people feel that they have, or how they’ve rarely considered how they might life their life differently. So, look around and notice who has a life (or even a lifestyle!) that you find intriguing. Then, have lunch with this person and ask them lots of questions about how they live, what’s important to them, how have they changed their life or lifestyle significantly and what other changes they may want to make.
3. Identify what about your life isn’t really you at all.
We’re all products of our culture and our environment, peer pressure and group norms, of advertising and the desire to get ahead, and so forth. Few of us really examine who we are; it’s often easier to live a role or have the right car. It’s safe to say that most people haven’t really chosen their lives; they’ve only chosen their lifestyle — or perhaps, a lifestyle has chosen them. Break the cycle by working with a coach who can help you identify what about yourself and about life is most fundamentally most important to you.
4. Identify what is natural for you, even if not normal for others.
Of the 200+ countries in our world, Americans are thought to be the most individualist of all cultures. We tend to do what we want and to heck with what others think. (Well, compared to your average Brit, anyway.) The trend of ‘doing your own thing’ continues and it’s accelerating. At one point, let’s say in the 60′s, doing your own thing was as much as doing the opposite of convention as it was doing something of your own design. But we have gotten better and better at this skill set and the entrepreneur movement in America is one piece of evidence. Today, we have the tools and the technology to afford to do our own thing professionally. Creativity and freedom are held in high regard and normalcy is often scoffed at. You now do have the societal and cultural freedom (even more than you may realize) to discover and orient around what is natural for you, because normal isn’t natural for many. Now, just give yourself this freedom.
5. Lifestyles are expensive to support and prevent you from evolving.
If you’re living paycheck to paycheck and supporting your lifestyle more than saving money, your lifestyle is too expensive. You’re trapped in it; you must keep working in the job you have, in order to afford your lifestyle. I’m not knocking lifestyle. I’m just pointing out that as long as you feel the pull to fund a lifestyle and you can’t afford to stop working, your rate of development/evolution will be much slower than it could be. Rapid personal development occurs when you have the time, space and reserves to afford to experiment with new ways of thinking, working and living. If you’re living wonderfully, yet close to the edge, you can’t really afford to progress in some very important ways, and you probably won’t be attractive. A lifestyle is generally seductive; a person is attractive. Take your pick. (Note: If you have plenty of reserves, enjoy your lifestyle completely! But if not, simplify.)
6. Identify who gives you life, and who are merely players in your lifestyle.
One’s lifestyle has a theatrical element to it. Everything from valet parkers to tailors, housekeepers to architects, and Starbucks to Lutece. Again, I’m not knocking wonderfully rich lifestyles at all! I’m just suggesting that you identify who it is who adds joy and energy to your life vs who merely supports, entertains or assists you.
7. Downsize, rightsize or even toss out your current lifestyle, just for the shock of it.
Most of my clients refuse to downsize their lifestyle until they experience a crisis of money, divorce or health problems. Oh well. I’ve given up pestering them, but I am also not surprised when I see them struggling to become more attractive. They can’t figure out why it’s not working as easily as advertised. The primary reason? They are unwilling to give up some of the trappings they have. To them, downsizing their lifestyle means to go the Caribbean instead of to Australia, business class instead of first class, an Infiniti instead of a Lexus. Again, I’m not knocking luxury; I live luxuriously. But my lifestyle is optional (meaning it’s fun, it’s not my identity) and it’s something that I’d immediately downscale at any sign of financial concern. I don’t suggest that my clients become monks and go ascetic; but if their lifestyle is constricting their ability to be themselves, they’ve got a problem.
8. Spend an hour and write down what an ideal life for you would look like.
Have you ever written down the people, objects, work, feelings and home which would comprise your ideal life? Why not put on some tea or coffee right now, sit in a comfy place and start writing it out?
9. Get to know what your values are.
Values are those things in life which we find ourselves naturally drawn to and even desire to express. Beauty, Peace, Creativity, Discovery and Harmony are examples of values.
10. Stop striving, acquiring, pushing yourself.
If you ‘gave up’ right now (meaning checking out of the rat race/lifestyle race), how would your life be better? How would it be different? What’s the worst that could happen? What would you lose that’s not replaceable? How would you change as a person? How would you spend your time? What path might you start down that’s very different from the one you’re on now? What goals would you let go? How would you motivate yourself? Would you even need to? These are the questions worth asking.
copyright 2002-2010 by coachville.com and bestofthomas.com
Please leave your comments, additions, other witticisms about this article below.
Are you an entrepreneur? Are you stressed? Take the Entrepreneur Stress Test.
Then work on reducing your score to 3 or below to bring your stress level in line. Print the test here, if you prefer.
Instructions: Please place a check mark next to each true statement. Add up the number of boxes checked.
___ I am impatient with others at least several times a week.
___ I worry about the sustainability of my company’s revenue streams.
___ I have business debt that is more than 20% of my annual revenues.
___ My spouse (or employees) just don’t get how big a job this is.
___ Given the effort I’m putting in, my net income is nowhere near high enough.
___ If I wasn’t here, the place would fall apart within a month.
___ I can’t seem to attract – or keep – the right staff.
___ I’m doing tasks that I do not like or am not very good at.
___ I am working more than 10 hours a day.
___ I am running faster and harder than I probably should be.
If you scored 9 or 10, please take a moment and stop. Take a good hard look at how your behavior is running you. You may not feel like you have a choice, but you do. Thousands of entrepreneurs have broken free from their stress and watched profits improve. What’s one thing you can do to reduce your stress today?
If you scored 5 or more, you would benefit from paying attention to your stress, and actively work to reduce it. Productivity shrivels under highly stressful conditions.
If you scored 3 or more, you have the opportunity to increase your profits further by addressing the stressful elements in your life. Less stress equals more profit.
Please share your thoughts below.
© Graduate School of Coaching, CoachVille and Best of Thomas.
Update: The Wealthy Thought Leader Live Event | San Francisco September 30 to October 2
- Heralded by a major Vancouver media outlet as a highly innovative event…
- Attended virtually by participants from 10 countries using cutting-edge technology you can emulate, at low-risk to you…an instant international network…
- Available for the first time: build your virtual team through face-to-face interviews of the most qualified talent, on location with you!
- This is an unconventional event that rewires your thinking, supports you in your leap to the front of the pack, and moves you from incremental to exponential growth…
For your business and personal development this fall, consider the Wealthy Thought Leader Event, now in its second incarnation, a thunderbolt of usefulness and enjoyment for highly-evolved business owners seeking income through innovation.
Status: Early bird registration fees in place with a 4-payment plan for convenience:
http://www.wealthythoughtleader.com
“A thinker’s event in every way, and run like an event 5 times its size.”
- Brooks Duncan, Creator www.DocumentSnap.com
A helpful ‘How to Choose A Live Event’ Checklist is downloadable here.
What It Looks Like When It Works | Kind Words From a Very Modern Coaching Business in July 2010
“After working hard to set up my business as a face-to-face coaching practice, when my husband got offered a fantastic job opportunity that involved travel, I was devastated because I couldn’t see how I could set my business up in a way that would allow me to travel the world with my husband while doing the coaching work that I love. I was also tired from doing back-to-back coaching sessions all day.
Thankfully, finding Andrea’s ‘Multiple Streams Of Coaching Income’ book opened the door to a whole new way of doing business and through that book and Andrea’s ongoing mentoring, I’ve since been able to set up location independent business systems that enable me to help people all over the world so that I can continue to do the coaching work that I love without having to start my business all over again when we move to another city.
I’m no longer restricted to working with people who live within commuting distance from me, we’ve been able to travel without disrupting my business, my business is growing steadily and I’m getting to do more of the work I love, thanks to Andrea’s savvy business development advice.”
- Cath Duncan, www.bottomlinebookclub.com
Multiple Streams of Coaching Income for 2010 | What’s Changed and How Does That Affect You?
While the structure of the house has remained the same, some of the rooms inside have been renovated and redecorated.” 
This is how I describe the nature of Multiple Streams of Coaching Income in 2010 – the concept of having additional ways to earn money on top of 1-on-1 coaching.
It’s rare now, to find a coach who ‘only’ does 1-on-1 coaching. Looking closely, I think you’ll find they likely also get paid doing something else.
Heartfelt individuals find their way to thank me still – they’re grateful to be able to express themselves as a coach but not be enslaved to the one format, their love for coaching leaching out of them one appointment at a time.
So if the basic structure of the House of MSOCI has stayed the same, how have the rooms been renovated? Here’s a recap, including the new fashionable colors for 2010. (No avocado-colored appliances, sorry to disappoint.)
The 8 Steps to Building Multiple Streams of Coaching Income (MSOCI) Updated for 2010
Step 1. Discover Your Niche Market. This is also known as a group of people with common issues or concerns, that ‘hang out’ together. Your niche market enables you to access ‘invisible’ pockets of clients.
UPDATE for 2010: Your Niche Market can still be a straightforward group, however, those pockets are increasingly occupied. How to leap to the front of the pack? Combine two niche markets, or tribal groups, say Tribe A and Tribe B.
In doing so, like the proverbial peanut butter and chocolate, you raise the grain on a new tribe that self-identifies more fiercely and loyally than either A or B alone.
Some leaders with an existing ‘A’ niche will naturally add a ‘B’ niche as their business & thinking mature, rallying this AB tribe with their leadership. In turn, this allows the business owner to drill down deeper, add greater value, and increase fees. Notice: veterans who don’t find a ‘B’ niche to add may find themselves becoming less relevant, and lose market advantage – stall out.
What if you’re just starting out? You can go the traditional route, or jump right into an AB combo. Whether veteran or newbie, the principle and implementation is very similar. It’s a conceptual difference. You get to choose which route to take.
Example: Firefly Occasions – Niche A: live event management. Niche B: luxury weddings. AB combination leading to 6-7 figure leap, and rabid fans/clients? Haute Couture business events.
Summary: New combinations of groups are forming as societal changes evolve human behaviour. Stay on top of emerging trends to sense these patterns first.
Step 2. Elicit the Problems. What’s being experienced most vividly by this group of people…”What’s keeping them awake at night?” In this step your job is to listen CLOSELY to what the market is saying.
UPDATE for 2010: Conventional wisdom, which still applies, teaches to survey and otherwise engage the market in dialog about what it most wants, then deliver it. What’s now possible, where it wasn’t 5 years ago, is to KNOW, or be exquisitely tuned to, the market’s problems in advance of the market realizing it has them.
This may sound like magic, but only until you pay some attention. There ARE certain things you can assume about what your market is going through. And because the individuals in the market aren’t paying as much attention to themselves as you are to them…you seeing these problems quickly, and articulating them clearly (compared to other leaders in your market) lends you a powerful credibility.
Example: Overwhelm. Out of a handful of such examples, overwhelm is powerful in its simplicity. Generalizations can be odious, but it’s quite safe to say that NO ONE is currently not overwhelmed. If your market doesn’t talk about this overtly, YOU can connect the dots for them. The resulting ahas are doorways through which you can provide value and RELIEF.
Test this with the opposite – if you don’t presume overwhelm for your CURRENT clients, what are you stepping over in their lives and doing a disservice as a result?
How might the pre-2010, conventional way of building Multiple Streams through surveys, etc, be limited, though admittedly still a fine way of proceeding? What might be possible for your business if you tap into the 2010 ethos?
Summary: Deeper insights about your market are available more quickly to anyone willing to look. More ways to communicate this understanding of your market are available than ever before. This means you can position yourself as the person that sees, hears, understands and can help most, better than ever before.
Each of the 8 steps to building Multiple Streams of Coaching Income has an equivalent upgrade, and each of them will be the subject of a future article, to complete the above.
But this is pretty heady stuff, so let’s leave it at this for now.
If your Multiple Streams business is:
- Doing fine, thank you, but not invigorated, and maybe even a little limp.
- Just not coming together or won’t stand up as a whole, the pieces seem to sit there, confused, missing the top of the puzzle box.
- Only a vision, basic plan or hope, as-yet-unborn because you’re too busy with 1-on-1 clients, life as a whole, and you don’t know enough yet….
…the Multiple Streams of Coaching Income Short Summer Course for 2010
…with its readily-affordable fee that includes two coaching sessions delivered by yours truly – will go into updated 2010 detail for all 8 steps, with examples and action steps.
Your multiple streams business has the opportunity to pass by the current traffic jam of competition and take the helicopter view instead.
Say no to the grind of putting in a ton of effort, selling two products, and getting one refund. No to infocrap. And prepare to become uncatchable.
Tiered pricing that rewards early registration is in place, details here:
(I’m not one to tout astronomical hourly rates for show, however it’s true that the Summer Short Course is the most affordable way to receive individual attention from me, and very likely will not be repeated. Fall brings with it lots of activity and my hope is to take Summer of 2010 to inject a little coaching love in spots that need it, now.)
Last but not least – we start next week! So I won’t be sending out reminders – this is it. And yes, the recordings will be made available for anyone (veterans especially) who just want to hear the 2010 Updates to the beloved 8 steps.
I’ve been part of two conversations within the coaching world this week that have put a pall on my heart:
- A long-time coach in real tears, fearful of not being able to ‘make it’ as a coach anymore, so much has changed in her market, and what used to work, no longer is.
- A high profile coach and prominent good citizen in the community, being sued and pursued by legal woes due to overextension and inability, in the final analysis, to be able to deliver on her promises.
I’ll have more to share and say about this in future issues of the newsletter but suffice to say the grass that looks greener may bear a second look – there is a definitely thinning of the herd occurring.
On that cheery note, I have a simple request. If you sense you are floating in an important moment for your business. That you need something to change soon, or sooner. That there might be a chance you don’t know what to do to get things to ‘better.’
Reach out for help – in whatever form, from whoever – NOW. I truly don’t care how or who from. F’ree, for pay. A friend, mentor, brain trust, whatever. But do it. Please.
Thanks. I needed to get that off my chest. Please feel free to share your comments below.
‘Mouse-Eye View’ Help for your Digital Project, with No Strings, A New Favorite Recommendation of Andrea’s
I’ve fallen in love with a new mind recently, and I don’t mind telling it to you like that. You know when you meet a brain that’s clear, 
upbeat, proactive and just feels like a fresh day, brimming with possibilities?
I’m really chuffed to introduce you to Cath Duncan, founder of AgileLiving.net and BottomLineBookClub.com, resources that are well worth looking at in and of themselves, HOWEVER…
As proof of why I’d wax quite so poetic, Cath’s done up a quite spectacular report on how she put together a USEFUL and crisp, anti-infocrap, curiosity-inciting community that’s attracted big name attention. Would you like to do the same or similarly?
You’ll want to take a close read of “How I Created the Bottom Line Book Club F’REE Report.” Flow charts and all, it’s here:
It’s straight-shooting, anti-hype, with no obligation, clear as a bright summer day. May I strongly encourage you to go grab it now and follow the steps? Thanks so much, Cath, for sharing your left plus right brain real-deal goodness!
CoachingDomain4U.com? Some Fantastic Domain Names Now For Sale
Have you ever experienced BadCoaching.com? Maybe you’re looking for a great client-attractive domain like StartCoaching.com.
I’m committed to always having at least one client of great promise on coaching scholarship with me, and have for more than 5 years. If I wanted to make a big deal out of it, I might want ScholarshipCoaching.com.
Whatever the case may be, these and more – some truly big time – domain names, are now available through my friend Nina East, founder of Personal Growth Princess, who’s doing some electronic decluttering. (Hmm…betcha electronicdecluttering.com is available, haha.)
If you’re interested in viewing the complete list, I invite you to visit this link: http://tinyurl.com/2vvoqrf.
Thanks, Nina, for making this available to the community rather than scattering the names to domain squatters!
Why Your Launch Isn’t Working (As Well As You’d Like) And Your Stuff Isn’t Selling (As Much As You’d Like)
It’s a wonderful day in the business: you’ve created a NEW THING and are about to release it to the world. Whether it be a new summer menu at a restaurant, a 6-week telecourse, an person-training or, the proverbial lemonade stand on a new street corner, this should be a great day, right?
But launch day, or selling your wares on any day for that matter, often comes with the entrepreneurial version of post-traumatic stress. Too much effort, not enough result. What’s happening? Here are a few reasons to review, then change, but only if you seek a different result.
1. Less is more.
Too much information, already! People aren’t going to buy just to make you stop droning on, verbally or in writing. Make ONE point clearly, move on. Next time, make another point. And then…enough said.
2. It’s too serious.
Adult education (no, not THAT kind!) needs to entertain. Lighten it up, but also look for where you can counsel your market to lighten up as well. They’ll be relieved and grateful.
3. Do the opposite.
According to the Art of War, it pays to do exactly what your enemy doesn’t expect. Rather than fall into a thrall about what your competitors or colleagues are doing, what can you do that they would NOT expect?
In a bouquet of red roses, there’s a reason white Baby’s Breath is the most common companion. It contrasts.
4. Show, don’t tell.
Instead of telling the benefits, show them, if you can. Before and after stories. Use shorthand with case studies. (See #1)
5. You’re being stubborn about something.
Intense coaching in the last 3 months, I have so much real-life proof (aka ammunition) about this, it’s silly.
Your launch isn’t doing as well, and your stuff isn’t selling as much, because you are being a stick in the mud about SOMETHING. Holier than though? Disconnected to reality? Attached to doing it yourself? Feeling desperate about money? (And yes, I have my own self as evidence too.)
6. Deliver more (karmic deposits) to sell more (karmic withdrawal.)
In a fascinating turnaround of the concept of tithing, where certain individuals even claim to give away the dollar amount they want to EARN each month, look to your delivery. What clients, what services, what products are you set to deliver right now?
Set out to OVERDELIVER. Because wimping out on delivery (letting current clients down, or not fully earning the money you’ve already put in the bank?) is the best way to say you’re not really ready to sell more, just now.
7. Be nimble.
Lots of people say ‘be speedy.’ That works to an extent, but there’s a difference. The insight is that being SLOW does not serve. Sluggishness, taking forever to make one decision, all these things rob you of space you need to manoeuvre, do something again, try a tweak.
If you only have X time, and your thing is untested, you need to step lightly, keep moving, course correct, find what works, nimbly.
8. Get realer.
This one is a toughie. In a time when authenticity has become the plastic word-of-the-day, the succinct (see #1) way I’ll put this is…
Ask…. if a video camera were on you at any given moment in your life (especially when you’re not creating something for YouTube) would we see a different you from the one you want us to see?
How can that change? That’s where the untapped reserves of realness live. And by contrast to the plastic around us, the foresight here is that that’s what will be noticed.
9. Your offer is off.
The price point. The perceived value. Maybe who you’re selling that thing to. Maybe your thing is (sorry, but it’s possible) boring and sounds like everyone else. Something about the ‘it’ isn’t right.
This is a toughie to admit to, but you may as well do it early if you feel it. Admitting it later isn’t going to feel better, is it?
Your turn! Why – now that you’ve marinated in the above 9 – isn’t your launch working as well as you’d like, or your thing selling as much as you’d like?
I left #10 open just for you. 
Because I know you have the muscles to play with the formula. Try it:
Foresight + Insight + Action = Business Success Through Thought Leadership.
What insight do you now have about this question, which everyone goes through, at one point or other? Click here to add your #10.
Best answer will be featured in the next issue of Creating What Matters, which will not be for another whole entire week.
“Choose A Live Event” Checklist | Are you looking to make the right decision about attending a live event?
Whoa! You’re not imagining things – there are a lot of events to choose from these days! Gee whiz, which one is right for you?
Of all the choices I have, how can I make the right decision about which live event I should attend?
Obviously, most people make this decision emotionally. It’s lonely being a small business owner after all. And after all those long weeks, don’t you deserve to reward yourself?
There’s nothing at all wrong with that, but it pays to be rational about it as well, especially with SO MANY events to choose from, and only so much time and money that you can really spend trolloping along to events.
Putting aside the fun factor for a moment…
The upshot is simple:
What is the total cost of attending an event? (Money, time, lost opportunities, physical wear and tear, all of that.)
What is the total benefit of attending an event? (Increased income, potential for increased income, leveraged contacts, and much more – there are a LOT of benefits, tangible and intangible.)
Put those two answers together and what do you get? A pretty good cost-benefit analysis for attending.
But that said, like tens of thousands of entrepreneurs like you, you have a budget for personal and professional development. So you plan, let’s say, to attend at least one, or perhaps more, live events each year.
In that case, I’ve developed an easy-breezy ‘Choosing a Live Event’ Checklist for you below, to further help. It includes a few lines for you to fill in, because each one of us has our own criteria. This makes the rational part of the decision making process much more evident.
I hope you find this useful. If you do, please forward it to someone you think could benefit as well…would you?
“How to Choose a Live Event” Checklist
Did you know that there are over 80 seminars, workshops and events happening every year, and growing, each of them specifically designed to help you, the small business owner, succeed?
Amazing, isn’t it? And, it’s great news.
Because it means that you have many more options than I did when I first started my business 13 years ago.
Thank goodness for options, because there are many different kinds of entrepreneur, and now you can choose the live event that will suit you, your values and your success path most. I invite you to carefully consider the field of options, because your choice of live event can have a real impact on your success as a small business owner, year after year.
Here’s a link to the PDF version for easy printing.
And here are just the questions. To really benefit from this checklist, be sure to use the PDF worksheet at the above link.
Now review your answers and rank or choose the event you most want to attend, then register to begin reaping the rewards of your clarity.
| 1. | Is the event in a geographically positive (convenient, environmental, energetically fitting) location? |
| 2. | Is the training a good value-for-dollar? Does it permit me to make payments, if that’s better for me? |
| 3. | Will there be frequent high-pressure scenarios to invest further than my comfort zone? |
| 4. | Is there a support system to taking action and following through post-event? |
| 5. | Is the agenda leading-edge and future-oriented, addressing topics I can’t get addressed elsewhere? |
| 6. | Can I speak with previous attendees to candidly hear their comments without filters? |
| 7. | Will I be learning business models in addition to technical how-to? |
| 8. | Will I also be learning how to grow and sustain myself as an entrepreneur and human being? |
| 9. | Will I be able to access the hosts and presenters easily in a group that’s the size I’m comfortable networking in? |
| 10. | Will I be intellectually stimulated and challenged to develop in surprising ways? |
| 11. | Does the event represent an entrepreneurial community I’d be proud to associate with? |
| 12. | Will the community serve my long-term needs if I return yearly, and as I become a more experienced business owner? |
| 13. | Is the event community open, welcoming and helpful to newcomers? |
| 14. | How current/fresh is the content that I will be learning? |
| 15. | How practical is the content that I will be learning and will there be new case studies? |
| 16. | Will what I learn increase my fees or income? |
| 17. | Will attending bring me more business/clients? Estimating how much? |
| 18. | Will what I learn support me in my definition of balance and success? Work hours, lifestyle, leverage? |
| 19. | Will I be exposed to key concepts that clients will pay a premium for? |
| 20. | Will what I learn set me apart from others in my market? |
| 21. | Will the training be complete and actionable without additional investment? |
| 22. | Will I leave clearer or more overwhelmed? |
| 23. | Will I leave tired and if so, how much recuperation or down-time should I plan for? |
| 24. | Will what I learn stay with me long term, and equip me to make better decisions later? |
| 25. | Is there another reason to travel to this event – client for-fee work locally, other business generation, etc.? |
| 26. | Is the event hosted by an organization that walks its talk and whose values I respect? |
| 27. | Does the event look enjoyable and like I can comfortably be my real self without pretense? |
| 28. | Can I get a 100% refund if I am not completely satisfied? |
| 29. | _________________________________________________
(insert your additional criteria here) |
| 30. | _________________________________________________
(insert your additional criteria here) |
The Wealthy Thought Leader 3-Day Live Event Is Coming To San Francisco [September 30 to October 2, 2010]
To score this event according to the above criteria, including those of your own that you add:
T
o familiarize yourself with previous attendees: Visit www.Twitter.com and search under #wtlead.
To ask previous attendees any question: Simply tweet a general tweet, but include #wtlead within it. Prior attendees participating in that thread have agreed to reply to any of your questions there and are waiting to say hello.
Watch participant comments post-event, here.
And, of course, we welcome you to ask any direct questions for us, simply by hitting reply to this email.
Current status of registrations: Early registration f’ee is in effect: US $695. Or, the option to pay 5 instalments of US $150 – is available until, and expires on Wednesday June 30, when a 4-payment option will become available.
If you’re reading this after June 30, 2010, check the information page for the event for updated status and if there are early-bird or payment-plan options still available.
Will The Entrepreneurial Woman Save The World? | Sheri McConnell Says YES…
With a wide-ranging foresight unavailable to most of us, let’s take a look at what the Dalai Lama mused recently, shall we?
“The world will be saved by a western woman.”
But Sheri McConnell, Author of Smart Women Know Their Why, takes that and pushes the envelope, riffing:
“The world will be saved by an ENTREPRENEURIAL woman.”
It’s a fascinating manifesto, and one that may resonate with you. In which case, it’s a lovely day to get to know Sheri and her work through her new book
‘Smart Women Know Their Why – A Guide for Discovering Your Life Purpose While Owning a Business So You Can Create Positive Change in the World’
pictured above, and purchasable here for under $15, books still being one of the best returns-on-investment you can get…
I’m delighted to partner with Sheri to support her bold vision and, after previewing her book a short while ago, happily recommend it to you with no hesitation. If you check it out June 30, the book’s birthday, there will be added gifts and festivities, though even Sheri, with all her insight, has yet to sort out virtual ice cream!
Open House Call | Revealing a Reliable & Real Client-Getting System Via Live Interview With Bill Baren
Attracting clients steadily is most certainly the Holy Grail of service business owners such as coaches, graphic designers, virtual assistants and more, perhaps you.
I’m smiling broadly at this moment, when I get to introduce you to Bill Baren, who’s walked through the steps from struggling coach to owner of a coaching business with so many clients that he had to bring on FOUR more coaches to handle all of the business (and he has a 3 month waitlist).
And, though I hold a very high standard of expectation for EVERYONE I introduce to you, Bill is someone I know and respect, and have since oh, probably close to 10 years. I trust him, and am glad he’s ‘on the case’ and bringing this teaching – strategies and action steps – to the community.
Your time really is precious – I hope you know how much! So if introducing you to this decades-old friendship strikes a chord, c
lick on over to read more details about this not-your-usual-suspects call.
(Hint: I’ll be doing the interviewing so you can bet I’ll be on the case, too.)
Date/Time: Tuesday, July 6 @ 5 pm Pacific/8 pm Eastern
http://tinyurl.com/2az9f4z
BTW, how many people do you personally know, from 10 years back, who have proof of success? Look closely, you may want to pay special attention to them. That kind of lastingness is pretty special!
Multiple Streams of Coaching Income for 2010 | What’s Changed and How Does That Affect You?
Briefly on the topic of Foresight, Insight and Action, I’m leading a call soon about the changes that have come to Multiple Streams of Coaching Income in the next few weeks. Dates/details to come, please hit reply if you’d like to hear about this asap.
And if you’re keen for *individual coaching help from yours truly* an affordable small group coaching offering is now available for the summer, at the below link. (Note: timely price breaks do apply.)
http://www.wealthythoughtleader.com/msoci2010/
Enjoy
2 Gift Copies of ‘Predictable Success’ by Les McKeown – First-come, First-served
For right-brainers especially, this book is proving a balm to tired business muscles – very useful indeed. If you don’t have a copy yet, do consider it your business read of the summer, crazy value for 13 whole dollars! But wait…
Being in possession of 4 copies, I have two to give away. (One’s spoken for, and mine is already well-loved, taking pride of place near the tub.)
Want yer own copy, my gift to you, I’ll even spring for shipping? Post a note below with something you think will make me smile, and I will be in touch for addresses for the first two comers.
P.S. I REALLY dislike going to the post office, so if I seem cranky AND happy about this giveaway, you know why.
Open House (no-fee) Call | ‘Write an Offer – Transform Your Business’ with Karri Flatla
It’s fitting that marketing and copywriting strategist Karri Flatla believes you can transform your business through writing. 
That the copywriting process itself can ‘fail you forward’ into action…taking your IDEA for an offer and making it a real-deal, value promise to your right people.
Join Karri’s no-fee call to discover how putting words to the page – and action to your ideas – can help you “risk into” your highest potential as an entrepreneur.
This call will also cover:
- What’s converting “traffic” into hot-blooded, interested prospects right now.
- The homework your competition isn’t doing (and what they’re doing that you can STOP).
- How the elusive “next level” in your business is just a love letter away.
Click here for call details and to register. Not all no-fee calls are alike, but Karri promises me this will be a transformational, business-building call. You’ll get off the phone ready to take action on your next, high end offer. Thanks, Karri. Enjoy!
A Small Rant | Ahem! The Wealthy Thought Leader 3-Day Live Event Is Coming To San Francisco [September 30 to October 2, 2010]
Well, I can’t say it’s the official release really because the word has leaked out, to be honest. [Yikes.] But it IS the first official announcement to you, dear reader of Creating What Matters, and in addition to a ‘Choosing a Live Event’ Checklist, coming soon, there are just a few things I’d like to make sure you know about our fall foray:
As a savvy business owner in 2010, I know you have a large number of live events to choose from. The only reason to come to Wealthy Thought Leader (#wtlead) is if… you want something quite different.
Obviously you can read for yourself, and I hope you do, but here are the key points:
We are a thought leadership organization. We coach, consult, train, cajole, even bully, when requested! But at heart we take a stand for the power of an idea, well implemented, to create all things good, including wealth, financial, personal & planetary.
As such, our job at the Wealthy Thought Leader event is to SHOW you what we’re talking about. This is the tactile, delicious joy the team and I are engaged in – how to demonstrate thought leadership at our event. For starters, I believe…
The extra mile is worth going, because that’s where no-one else is.
Go big or go home. Now, sometimes ‘big’ may mean small, I agree! But I don’t want to digress too much here. Anything worth doing is worth really doing. As your host at the event, I’m going to be pretty relentless about you seeing how to get to the front of your pack, regardless of who your pack is and how far you already are.
As our previous attendees will attest, I also emphasize that:
Learning is what happens when we don’t know what to do.
- #WTLEAD will push the edges of what you know, and will require you to fire new neurons, learning things in your blind spots. This puts you in a good position to continue to lead YOUR clients, thank goodness!
- #WTLEAD is creative, right-brained, designed to surprise and delight. And proudly, the event has lasting effects, tangible and intangible. Visit the web page or ask on Twitter.com ‘How was #wtlead? Any lasting effects?’ and see un-canned responses. (No bribes have been given, or received.)
- #WTLEAD is experiential and practical. For the first time in San Francisco, there will be officially sponsored face-to-face opportunities to hire virtual teams of the most experienced, most qualified kind. Another way to keep you at the head of the pack. And other go-forward steps.
The theme, speakers and topics for this now annual event will be different each time, save for a few classics. [Hey, I’ll be there and I’ll mostly be the same.] But no two ‘Wealthy Thought Leader’ events will be the same experience. Specifically for Fall in San Francisco, our theme will be…
Income and Innovation on the
Extra Mile
In short, this is an affordable, accessible ‘safe zone’ for entrepreneurs, like you, who’re seeking to slay your challenges in first-class company.
Finally, I’m an advocate of a calm buying decision. And I believe in your ability to make the right one at the right time for you. That part is non-negotiable. So take this next part as the simple, black and white information that it is, okay?
More info here, including quick navigation links at the top! Enjoy. And perhaps I’ll see you there…
“Andrea, you delivered 1000% and more…”
Kind words from an attendee of March #WTLEAD – click to view attendee video.
Your Team & You: Who is Taking Care of Who? The Stop Settling Manifesto by Tina Forsyth is now officially on the loose!
Sad but true, too many business owners feel they’re taking care of their team, instead of the other way around. When working well, 
yours should be the team that keeps on TAKING tasks from you, rather than loading you up with more.
As leader of the Online Business Management movement, my former business partner Tina Forsyth has thrown down the gauntlet about this, and I invite you to deny the truth of it!
Click here to download the Stop Settling Manifesto and also receive Tina’s Hiring Checklist (the one she uses when I ask her to help me hire.)
Way to light the way and BOP us on the head, no holds barred, Tina!
BTW – representatives from two recently certified crops of Online Business Managers will be present in-person at the San Francisco Wealthy Thought Leader Live Event, the easier for you to meet, interview and possibly hire – without settling, oh no. More event details at the link above.
Hungering for a vision
To the coaches and entrepreneurs who read this, this is why I do what I do. I’m built with a rabid desire to help businesses like yours bloom, whatever it takes. My passion is for your success.
Why? It comes from caring, deep in the bone, about where courage and the right help can get you…even when you start with rolling quarters.
Like a plant, when a child grows for too long in its original “container,” it becomes root-bound. With no room for additional growth, roots become tangled, matted, and grow in circles.
Root-bound plants and people placed in a larger environment without having their roots untangled often fail to overcome their choked condition. Growth and potential are stunted.
On the other hand, repotting a plant—or a person—after untangling its roots gives it breathing room for new growth, for new fruit, and for the formation of entire new plants.
That’s what this book is about.
Multiple Streams of Coaching Income is a loving repotting of our concept of coaching—from a tight little container into the unbounded earth that provides unlimited opportunity.
And it’s just in time.
Multiple Streams was born out of the pain thousands of coaches have expressed about the viability of the coaching profession. “Is the dream dead?” they asked.
From there, it has been driven by a new vision, a huge vision for what the coaching profession can be and do.
Multiple Streams presents a crystal clear vision to coaches that makes the possibilities we’ve witnessed in the past seem tiny—as though we’d been looking at a single leaf and exclaiming that we beheld a forest.
However, no matter how profound the one-on-one coaching relationship can be, it is not a path to wealth for every coach.
For coaching to survive, we must re-visit and re-think of ways coaching can be delivered to more clients, and can create financial success for more coaches.
So—to continue the analogy—as magnificent as the one leaf we knew about has been, the forest is what I hope you’ll glimpse in the pages of this book.
As you take in the new view that means the most to you, determine to engage your heart and mind in thinking it through. Embrace it.
It’s not an overstatement to say that coaching and the coaching approach are more crucial now than ever to human evolution.
For that very reason, we must master financial success as coaches or risk our critical work becoming marginalized, discredited, and just plain ignored.
By drastically opening up our vision of coaching, we 100% unbox the possibilities for our profession in the same way we champion our individual clients.
All of us have lived our entire lives to this point in preparation for the challenges ahead. Will you accept my invitation to become a wealthy, successful, impactful coach?
To lead the way as coaches, we must first be willing to heal ourselves.
To be generous, we must first be wealthy. To give, we must have something TO give. To move, for once and for all, beyond worry about money is to open up our ability to live up to our potential— to do our greatest work.
With you for company, I am excited about the future we will create…starting with our wealth.
Let’s stop ignoring the truth and talk about multiple ways for coaches to earn money.
This is about our lives and our livelihoods. Ready, set, engage!
